I can't see him getting an offer sheet from another team for more than that. I was assuming he'd make around 3M/yr. Not so sure if I believe this. He should be pleased if he gets over 3M/yr, especially after this season.

Heard on "The Fan" that Letang has turned down an offer that would make him 3.5 million a season. Just a rumor, but did anyone else hear anything about this?

No and what is their source?

I'm on the fence about retaining Letang, I'd love to have him as part of the core but there is just no way Shero can justify paying him more than $3-$3.5M per year, and even that is pushing it in my mind. He's talented, yes, has great potential, yes, but is just too damn inconsistent and sporadic offensively. If he truly believes he's worth $3.5M+ then I hope management plays hardball and he'll realize quickly that no other team is going to cough up a 1st and 3rd for his services.

A two year, maybe $2.5M-ish deal would be in the best interest of both parties, let him grow his game a little more and maybe he'll be worth that big commitment or maybe he'll continue to struggle and we part ways.

if you re-do the 2005 NHL Enrty Draft, Letang would most likely be a top 15 pick.
With that in mind, I bet that most of the teams would be more than happy to give up a 1st and a 3rd for Letang, then make space for his salary.
Draft picks are so over-rated.(well maybe not the top 10 but besides that there's a lot of uncertainty whereas someone like Letang is already proven at the NHL level.)

We need Letang. There's no question. He'll make a mistake every couple games, but he and Orpik are the only dmen worth a damn in their own zone right now.

I felt like Letang's stock has been dropping lately but that might just be his development slowing somewhat. He was getting better game by game IMO since he entered the league and this season he's seemed about the same throughout. The game last night made me realize how much we need him though, or at least, made me realize how limited we really are offensively. I know Malkin and Gonch are out but come on! The best we have in shoot outs after Crosby and Letang are Guerin and Kunitz? I always thought we had a bit of an unfair advantage in shoot outs but, in actuality we are really lacking (stating the obvious, I'm sure)in that department. Letang is awesome in the shoot out though. It's too bad we can never get him one on one w/ a goalie in a game he has better hands than most everyone on the team w/ the exception of Crosby and maybe Malkin(although I haven't seen great hands from Geno for most of the season)

I'm also aware that Christiansan was a shoot out artist as well and we all saw that, that does not translate into game time goal scoring but Letang has many more tools (like skating) that EC didn't have.

We need Letang. There's no question. He'll make a mistake every couple games, but he and Orpik are the only dmen worth a damn in their own zone right now.

Add in Leopold and we got a deal(Agreement).

Anyway, I strongly believe we NEED to re-sign Letang, I'd give him a 4 year/12 million contract easily, but he'll prob earn slightly more than that per year. He is our replacement for Gonchar, and all he is going to do is just improve. Inconsistent on offense sure, in his own zone at times, sure. But doesn't mean we throw him under the bus. He has "elite" written all over him, and is surely our 2nd best d-man at the moment, defensively.

Assuming the $3.5 million/year rejection is true, how many years did he reject? If we offered him a short-term deal, then it's no wonder he rejected it. I doubt he'd reject 10 years, $3.5 million/year.

Assuming the $3.5 million/year rejection is true, how many years did he reject? If we offered him a short-term deal, then it's no wonder he rejected it. I doubt he'd reject 10 years, $3.5 million/year.

would he? in 3 years he might be worth 5 million (we can dream) so it doesn't seem smart to me for him to take a 10 year deal. I'm starting to think that the best situation for both parties would be a 2 year deal at around 3 million.

Assuming the $3.5 million/year rejection is true, how many years did he reject? If we offered him a short-term deal, then it's no wonder he rejected it. I doubt he'd reject 10 years, $3.5 million/year.

I like Letang, but I don't like the idea of giving him 4 million/per year. I'd offer 3 to 3½. If he wants more, let him go to RFA. I'd be willing to take that gamble. If he only gets offered 3½, we'd match. If somebody offers more, we'd still get a 1st and 3rd, plus we'd save 4 million in cap space to sign some D-Men.

I see Letang as probably a top-four D-man, at worst a #4, at best a borderline 2/3.

But really, you look at how many teams have a legit #1 blueliner, and there's not all that many. But as it is, I think he'd have a hard time convincing an arbitrator that he's worth $4 million+. His numbers (yes, I know, flawed, but that's what arbitrators look at) just aren't that great.

Actually, the more I think about it, I wonder if the Pens could get by without that overpaid Pronger/Phaneuf/Gonchar type of blueliner in the future? You know, make a more above-average blueline, but without that elite player, unless he's an organizational draftee with a sweet contract.

Reminds me of how pissed Kaspar used to get every year when he'd go to arbitration and they wouldn't award him that much money since his numbers sucked.

Hah, I remember that. And that was before the NHL really started keeping good hit stats, so he couldn't even point to those and say "look, this is what I do, and I'm good at it!"

And, as I brought up in another thread, I think there's a lot more $4 million or more can bring us in terms of the blueline. If Letang really is set on getting that much or more, he's probably not going to get it here.

I'd rather take that $4 million and use that plus some money scrimped from other parts of the roster to pull in someone more established in the top 4 role, like Volchenkov.